Dollhouse: Season 3 Would Have Seen ‘Super’ Echo Go All Buffy

Dollhouse, the short-lived Fox series with a fascinating premise that failed to live up to my personal expectations, still holds a place in my heart. You see, despite its inherent flaws, rarely since has a concept for a television series had me as intrigued as this tale of mind-wiped Actives, identity, and shadowy corporations.

It was a surprise to many that Fox renewed it for a second season, but where would the story have gone had it survived for third season? Dollhouse Executive Producer, Tim Minear spoke to Assignment X and revealed that the show’s protagonist, Echo, would have levelled up on her way to becoming a more compelling character. Kinda like a certain Vampire Slayer.

Head past the jump for the juicy details.

Speaking to Assignment X, Minear revealed that a third season would have seen Echo becoming a whole lot more interesting than the rather one-note, unlikable, repetitive shell that she was for the most part of the series (my opinion). He goes on to make the Buffy comparison:

“What I think we came to was, by having Echo become this sort of superhero and having her become the sum of all these different imprints, of all these parts, and allow her to become this sentient being with [all of this incorporated into her], we found a way to make her a character. I think the problem in Season One was, you had this concept that sounds great when you’re pitching it, but when you sit down to write it, it’s, “Okay, so now we’re writing a show about a main character who can’t remember what happened last week.” Which I think was a little boring for the audience, because they’re so far ahead of her. So when we started allowing her to remember things, and then started taking the concept and making it into what her superpower was, it started turning into something else. I think what you would have seen in Season Three is [a series] a lot more embracing of its mythology and turned into more of a superhero show. It would have been a little bit more like BUFFY in some ways.”

Very interesting indeed. I always thought that the show was fundamentally flawed with the Echo character (the presentation of her story and the portrayal of the character), so it’s revealing to hear Minear admit that she was a problem. When you have a central protagonist who can’t remember yesterday, that’s always going to be a challenge. But not an impossible one. Some of the most compelling movies of recent times have tackled memory issues (Eternal Sunshine, Memento), and Fringe does a fine job with Dr. Walter Bishop (though that’s approached from a different angle).

I do like the idea of evolving Echo into a kind of ‘superhero’. It seems logical, and I think (if done right) it would have made the character a lot more compelling and possibly worth investing in. The idea of drawing on her different personas is fantastical, but also relatively believable since people do it all the time – everyone has different sides that make them who they are. I would also say that we saw shades of this ‘Echo Evo’ in season 2, so it’s fairly easy to see how it could have been amped up in a third season.

What do you think about a Buffyesque super-powered Echo? Would you have liked to have seen that character in a third season of Dollhouse?

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DH was never so interesting as it was in the episodes subsequent to the cancellation notice going out. Attention spans are short (mine included). Some hint of super-heroey goodness should have been leaked early on (flash forwards?, spoilery interviews, something, anything) to keep otherwise bored viewers brimming with hope after those monotonous early days.

Delivering the good stuff after the show is axed sounds like a tossup between planning to fail or failing to plan. Who has the patience to listen to a 10 minute song that doesn’t get good until the 8th minute?

Buffy slayed in the first episode. She certainly wasn’t ready to embrace her calling in those early Hellmouth days, and her support system was in the tadpole stage, but we all felt her potential greatness simmering just below the surface, so hanging in there seemed a good bet.

In stark contrast, Echo’s first season provided very little inkling that she might rise to Buffy status if we could all just learn to chill for a few years.

I always saw the strength of Dollhouse in characters like Adelle DeWitt and Laurence Dominic. I would’ve like to see the story explore how Adelle came to work for Rossum, and how the NSA decided to investigate. I would have liked comparison with Ballard, because the NSA definitely take Rossum seriously in sending a mole for the LA Dollhouse while Ballard was ridiculed.
I would have also liked to see more episodes like ‘Echoes’ which dealt with perception and ridiculousness. I would’ve liked certain secrets to get wrapped up there and for the series to have moved on in a more sustainable direction – Season 2 felt forced because it was like – ok, Epitaph One said Alpha worked withem – how does that happen? and trying to go up against Rossum, and opposing Rossum felt weird because they believed that blowing up a building – and killing boyd, of course – was going to kill Rossum, even though the Attic and the use of multiple bodies by many Rossum executives definitely suggested that was not the case.
Also, either kill Ballard or don’t kill him, the coma and the heroic death and Alpha’s solution just felt like the writers who wanted to appease everyone – character loyalists and reality-includes-bad-news people alike.

Also, of course, with the massive number of “Hey, it’s blank from that show!” actors, I would have liked to see crossover, but with legalities I know that’s rarely feasible.

im just going to skip my explaination and go straight to there needs to be a season 3 you end season 2 at a cliff hanger. you can work so much more off of that ending…i don’t understand how you mix up her buffy character and her character on dollhouse. i am a buffy fan but i never once thought about it that way. Just saying the two have nothing to do with each other and it’s just putting the idea down to a season 3! She becomes like Faith i don’t know how that would pull off the idea of echo…because it wouldn’t be her. I’ve got tons of ideas for season 3 of DOLLHOUSE that probably wouldn’t be anything like buffy. just saying it’s possible.

I am a huge fan of buffy and i personaly
loved dollhouse u could bring boyd
back and he could continue to make dolls with echo
fighting him all the way or u could use make
echo bring down the rest of the houses.
And it could work because u see the end
where the blast goes off and it working but u
dont see
What happens to the rest of the world just think about it. I would love to see more

The last episode of season 2 didn’t seem like the end, left me just wanting to see what happens with everybody. Than I look and there is no season 3. I mean is Paul really dead, what happen to ALPHA, who all went back to their original selves, what was with her just laying in her old pod, I thought she was suppose to destroy everything starting with the chair?? I think they should diffidently make a season 3, and explain everything more and show what all happens. I really loved and enjoyed watching this show. Never hears of it or seen it on tv just found it on netflix one day, and got hooked. I stayed up all night watching until I finished all the episodes.

I thought Echo as a main character allowed a deeper analysis of the concept of “dolls” and the role these “actives” play in the real world. I thought the storyline was very exciting. I enjoyed the twists in plot and the development of what should have been an empty shell.